JP2906017B2 - Coating device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for forming a thin coating film on the surface of an object by rotating a processing chamber accommodating the object together with the object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device or an LCD, a photoresist is applied to a silicon substrate or an LCD substrate (glass substrate), and a circuit pattern or the like is reduced and transferred to the photoresist using a photolithography technique. Then, a series of processing for developing this is performed.

In performing such processing, a processing system shown in FIG. 12 is used. The system includes a loader unit 40 for loading and unloading a substrate G as a processing object,
A brush cleaning device 42 for brush cleaning the substrate G;
Water washing device 44 for washing water with high pressure jet water
An adhesion processing device 46 for hydrophobizing the surface of the substrate G; a cooling device 48 for cooling the substrate G to a predetermined temperature; a resist coating device 50 for coating a resist liquid on the surface of the substrate G; Heating apparatus 5 for pre-baking or post-baking by heating substrate G before and after
The resist removing device 54 for removing the resist on the peripheral portion of the substrate 2 and the substrate G, the developing device 55, and the like are integrated to improve the working efficiency.

At the center of the processing system configured as described above, a substrate transfer path 56 is provided along the longitudinal direction, and each of the devices 42 to 55 is disposed on the substrate transfer path 56 with its front face facing. A substrate transfer mechanism 58 for transferring the substrate G to and from each of the devices 42 to 55 is provided movably along the substrate transfer path 56. This substrate transfer mechanism 58
Arm 5 for holding substrate G by vacuum suction or the like
9 is provided. For example, two arms 59 are provided at the top and bottom, and can be moved to the substrate mounting position of each device 42 to 55 by a moving mechanism.

On the other hand, the resist coating apparatus 50 includes a processing chamber for accommodating the substrate G together with the substrate G in order to form a thin coating film on the surface of the substrate G by applying a resist solution to the surface of the rectangular substrate G. Is used to form a resist coating film on the substrate G by rotating a cup having the same. As shown in FIG. 13, the rotating cup type coating apparatus includes a disc-shaped rotating cup 12 fixed integrally with a spin chuck 10 on which a substrate G is placed, and a rotating cup 1
The main part is constituted by a ring-shaped drain cup 14 arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of No. 2. In this case, a through hole 15 for discharging mist scattered at the time of resist application is formed in the peripheral wall of the rotating cup 12.
The lid 16 is closed at the opening of
A bulging head 18 projecting above the lid 16 is gripped by a robot arm (not shown) so that the opening of the rotating cup 12 can be opened and closed.

In the rotating cup type coating apparatus configured as described above, the lid 16 is lifted upward by the robot arm, and in this state, the substrate G is transported onto the rotating cup 12 by the arm 59 of the substrate transport mechanism 58. It is placed on the spin chuck 10. Then, after holding the substrate G on the spin chuck 10 by vacuum suction or the like, a coating liquid supply nozzle (not shown) moves, and a resist liquid as a coating liquid is dropped on the substrate G. Then, when the application liquid supply nozzle is retracted, the robot arm operates again to attach the lid 16 on the rotating cup 12 to form the closed processing chamber 20. In this state, the spin chuck 10 is driven to rotate the spin chuck 10, the rotating cup 12, the lid 16 and the substrate G integrally, and a centrifugal force at this time forms a resist coating film on the upper surface of the substrate G. Is done. On the other hand, the mist of the resist solution is discharged from the through hole 15 of the rotating cup 12 into the drain cup 14 by centrifugal force and an exhaust flow, and is discharged from a drain port (not shown) provided in the drain cup 14. It is discharged outside.

However, when the spin chuck 10 rotates, the motor 11 generates heat and heats the surrounding air, so that an updraft is generated.
And flows into the inside of the drain cup 14 and becomes dust on the substrate G when the lid 16 is opened, and adheres to the processed coating film of the substrate G to cause damage. There is. For this reason, in this type of conventional coating apparatus, an upper tapered surface is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the rotary cup 12, and the upper tapered surface is similarly formed on the inner peripheral edge of the drain cup 14. Form the surface,
A minute gap is formed between these two tapered surfaces, and when the rotating cup 12 rotates, the rotating cup 12 and the drain cup 1
The air flow caused by the pressure difference induced by the peripheral speed difference generated between the four
The mist flowing into the drain cup 14 due to an air current flowing inward of the drain cup 14 from above is prevented (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-63333).

[0008]

However, in this type of conventional coating apparatus, the rotating cup 12 and the lid 1 are not provided.
6 is rotated at high speed (about 1500 rpm) in a sealed state to apply a resist solution, and the mist scattered at the time of application is removed through the through-hole 1.
Since the structure is such that suction and exhaust are performed from the outside through the processing chamber 5, a pressure difference is generated between the inside of the processing chamber 20 and the outside air, and the inside of the processing chamber 20 is in a negative pressure state. Accordingly, a large force is required to open the lid 16 after processing a relatively large object to be processed, such as an LCD substrate, and there is a problem that the lid 16 cannot be opened smoothly. When the lid 16 is opened, the surrounding air flows into the rotating cup, and mist and dust scattered to the outside due to the inflow of the air are removed from the processed substrate G.
There was also a problem of causing damage by adhering to the top.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and creates an air flow inside and outside a rotating cup during a rotation process to reduce a negative pressure in a processing chamber and to smoothly open a lid. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coating apparatus capable of preventing mist and dust from adhering to a processed object, thereby improving throughput and improving product yield.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a first coating apparatus of the present invention comprises a rotating cup having a processing chamber for accommodating a processing object, and a rotating cup surrounding the rotating cup. Assuming a coating device having a drain cup disposed in the upper peripheral portion of the processing chamber of the rotating cup
An air passage is provided, and an exhaust hole is provided in a lower peripheral portion.

In the present invention, a tapered surface whose diameter is reduced toward the upper side is formed on an outer surface of the rotating cup, and an inner peripheral surface of the drain cup is formed on the upper surface so as to approach the tapered surface of the rotating cup. It is preferable to form a tapered surface having a diameter reduced toward the surface.

An exhaust port is provided on the outer peripheral side of the drain cup.
It is more preferable to provide

A rotary cylinder connected to the rotary cup;
The holding means for rotatably mounting an object to be processed is
A fixed cylinder is interposed between the fixed cylinder and the rotating cylinder.
Forming a labyrinth seal between the shaft and the rotating shaft
Is preferred.

In the present invention, the processing chamber is formed by the rotating cup and a lid closed by the opening, and the lid is fixed to the rotating cup during the rotation processing. In this case, the fixing means for fixing the rotating cup to the lid may be, for example, fitting by a pin and a concave portion such as a hole, or the lid can be fixed to the rotating cup using a pressing mechanism.
As the pressing mechanism, for example, an elastic means such as a spring, a suction means using a magnet or vacuum, or a wing piece attached to the upper surface of the lid and having a component force for pressing the lid toward the rotating cup with rotation. Can be formed.

[0015]

According to the coating apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, an air flow path is provided in the upper peripheral portion of the processing chamber of the rotating cup, and an exhaust hole is provided in the lower peripheral portion, so that the rotating cup can be processed during the rotation process. Thus, an air flow is formed inside and outside the rotating cup, and this air flow can reduce the negative pressure in the processing chamber. Therefore, the lid can be opened smoothly without requiring a large force to open the lid. Further, the amount of air flowing into the processing chamber from the outside when the lid is opened can be reduced to prevent mist and dust from adhering to the processed object. In this case, a tapered surface whose diameter is reduced toward the upper side is formed on the outer surface of the rotating cup, and the diameter of the tapered surface is reduced toward the upper side so as to approach the tapered surface of the rotating cup on the inner peripheral surface of the drain cup. By forming the tapered surface, a pressure difference is induced from a peripheral speed difference generated between the rotating cup and the drain cup when the rotating cup rotates,
This pressure difference promotes the air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the outer peripheral portion of the rotating cup, and the scattering of the exhaust mist in the drain cup can be prevented.

An exhaust port is provided on the outer peripheral side of the drain cup.
By doing so, it is possible to exhaust mist that is going to the outside from the drain cup from the exhaust port.

A rotary cylinder connected to the rotary cup;
The holding means for rotatably mounting an object to be processed is
A fixed cylinder is interposed between the fixed cylinder and the rotating cylinder.
And forming a labyrinth seal between the
Due to the above, dust from the drive system into the rotating cup during the rotation process
Can be prevented from entering.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, the coating apparatus of the present invention is used as an LCD.
A case where the present invention is applied to a substrate processing system will be described.
Note that the same parts as those of the conventional coating apparatus will be described with the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of the entire structure of the coating apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part thereof, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a rotary drive section.

In the coating apparatus of the present invention, the object to be processed, for example, L
A holding hand that holds a CD substrate G (hereinafter referred to as a substrate) by suction by a vacuum device (not shown) and rotates in the horizontal direction.
A spin chuck 10 as a step and the spin chuck 1
An opening disk-shaped rotating cup 12 having a processing chamber 20 surrounding an upper portion and an outer peripheral portion of the rotating cup 12, and a lid 16 detachably attached (detachable) to an opening 12 a of the rotating cup 12. The main part is constituted by a hollow ring-shaped drain cup 14 arranged so as to surround the outer peripheral side of the rotating cup 12.

The spin chuck 10 has a drive motor 21
Is rotatable (self-rotating) in the horizontal direction via a rotating shaft 22 that is rotated by the driving of the rotary shaft 22, and can be moved in the vertical direction by driving a lifting cylinder 23 connected to the rotating shaft 22. . In this case, the rotation shaft 22
Bearing 25 on the inner peripheral surface of fixed collar 24 (fixed cylindrical body)
a and is slidably connected to a spline bearing 27 fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the rotatable inner cylinder 26a rotatably mounted via the inner cylinder 26a. A driven pulley 28a is mounted on the spline bearing 27, and the driven motor 21 is mounted on the driven pulley 28a.
A belt 29a is stretched between a drive shaft 21a and a drive pulley 21b mounted on the drive shaft 21a. Therefore, the drive shaft 21 is driven by the drive motor 21 via the belt 29a.
2 rotates, and the spin chuck 10 rotates. Also,
The lower side of the rotating shaft 22 is disposed in a cylindrical body (not shown).
The rotation shaft 22 can be moved in the vertical direction by driving the lift cylinder 23 through the lift cylinder 23.

The rotating cup 12 is fixed to the fixed collar 2.
On the outer circumferential surface of 4 via a bearing 25b rotates to be mounted
A bearing 32 having a sealing function is interposed between the bottom portion 12b of the rotating cup 12 and the lower surface of the spin chuck 10 and is attached via a connecting tube 31 fixed to an upper end portion of a cylindrical body, for example, a rotating outer cylinder 26b. As a result, it is rotatable relative to the spin chuck 10. The drive from the drive motor 21 is transmitted to the rotary cup 12 by a driven pulley 28b mounted on the rotary outer cylinder 26b and a belt 29b stretched over a drive pulley 21b mounted on the drive motor 21 so that the rotary cup 12 is driven. Rotated. In this case, the diameter of the driven pulley 28b is formed to be the same as the diameter of the driven pulley 28a mounted on the rotating shaft 22, and the belts 29a and 29b are stretched over the same drive motor 21. The spin chuck 10 rotates the same. The fixed collar 24 and the rotating inner cylinder 26a
A labyrinth seal portion 33 is formed on the surface facing the rotary outer cylinder 26b to prevent dust from entering the rotary cup 12 from the lower drive system during the rotation process (see FIG. 3).

The rotating cup 12 has a tapered surface 12e whose side wall 12c is reduced in diameter toward the upper side.
An inward flange 12d is formed inward from the upper end of the side wall 12c. And of the rotating cup 12
An air flow path is formed in the upper peripheral portion. Eg introvert
Air supply holes 3 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction of
4 are formed to form a part of the air flow path. Ma
An exhaust hole 35 is formed in a lower peripheral portion, that is, at an appropriate position in the circumferential direction on the lower side of the side wall 12c. By providing the air supply hole 34 and the exhaust hole 35 in this manner, when the rotating cup 12 rotates, the air flowing into the processing chamber 20 from the air supply hole 34 flows out of the exhaust hole 35 to the outside. At this time, the inside of the processing chamber 20 can be prevented from becoming negative pressure,
The lid 16 can be easily opened without requiring a large force when opening the cover.

On the other hand, an annular passage 14a is provided inside the drain cup 14, and an exhaust port connected to an exhaust device (not shown) is provided at an appropriate place (for example, four places in the circumferential direction) on the outer peripheral wall of the annular passage 14a. 36 is provided,
A radial exhaust passage 37 communicating with the exhaust port 36 is formed in an upper portion on the inner peripheral side of the drain cup 14 (see FIGS. 1 and 3). By providing the exhaust port 36 on the outer peripheral portion of the drain cup 14 and forming the exhaust passage 37 communicating with the exhaust port 36 on the inner peripheral upper portion of the drain cup 14 in this manner,
During rotation processing, the mist that is scattered by the centrifugal force in the processing chamber 20 and flows into the drain cup 14 through the exhaust hole 35 is prevented from rising to the upper side of the rotating cup 12 and is discharged to the outside from the exhaust port 36. be able to.

The annular passage 14a is provided with a drain cup 14
The outer wall 14b rising from the bottom of the drain cup 14 and the inner wall 14c hanging down from the ceiling of the drain cup 14 are detoured so that the exhaust can be performed uniformly.
A drain hole 14e is provided in the bottom 14d located between the inner wall 14b and the inner wall 14c at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the drain pipe 14f having the drain hole 14e is provided with a support 38 for supporting the drain cup 14.
Is engaged with a joint 38b attached to a bracket 38a attached to the drainage pipe 14g and connected to the drainage pipe 14g. When the drain cup 14 is cleaned and repaired,
The drain cup 14 can be easily removed from the joint 38b.

The inner peripheral surface of the drain cup 14 is formed with a tapered surface 14h whose diameter is reduced upward so as to approach the tapered surface 12e of the rotary cup 12, and the tapered surface 12e of the rotary cup 12 is formed. A minute gap 39 is formed between the drain cup 14 and the tapered surface 14h. By forming the tapered minute gap 39 expanding downward as described above, the minute gap 3 between the rotating cup 12 and the drain cup 14 when the rotating cup 12 rotates is formed.
A pressure difference is induced from a peripheral speed difference generated between the upper and lower portions of the rotating cup 9, and this pressure difference promotes an airflow from the upper side to the lower side of the minute gap 39 on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating cup 12, thereby causing the exhaust mist in the drain cup 14. Is passed through the minute gap 39 and the rotating cup 1
2 can be prevented from scattering outside.

Further, even if there is a mist which is directed upward through the minute gap 39 and scatters outside the rotating cup 12,
The air is sucked by the exhaust passage 37 and is discharged into the drain cup 14 through the exhaust port 36.

During the rotation process, the lid 16 needs to be fixed to the opening 12a of the rotary cup 12 and rotated integrally. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fixing pin 17a protruding above the rotating cup 12 and the fitting recess 17b fitted to the fixing pin 17a are fitted to each other to rotate the lid 16. It is fixed to the cup 12. In this case, by forming the top of the fixing pin 17a in a spherical shape, dust generated by contact with the fitting recess 17b is reduced. Note that the fixing pin 17a does not necessarily need to protrude toward the rotating cup, and as shown in FIG. 6, the fixing pin 17a may protrude from the lid, and a fitting recess 17b may be provided on the rotating cup. Further, the inside of the fitting recess 17b may be connected to suction means (not shown) to discharge dust generated by the contact between the fixing pin 17a and the fitting recess 17b to the outside.

When the lid 16 is opened and closed, the robot arm 60 is inserted under the bulging head 18 projecting from the upper surface of the lid 16 as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. After engaging the locking pin 61 protruding from the robot arm 60 with the locking groove 18 a provided in the portion 18, the robot arm 60 can be moved up and down.
Note that when the lid 16 is opened, the locking groove 18a of the bulging head 18 is aligned with the locking pin 61 of the robot arm 60, and when the lid 16 is closed, the fixing pin 17a and the fitting recess 17b are closed. Can be performed by controlling the rotation angle of the drive motor 21 formed by a servomotor or the like.

In the above embodiment, the lid 16 and the rotating cup 1
2 has been described by fitting the fixing pin 17a and the fitting recess 17b. However, such a structure is not necessarily required, and the lid 16 is separately provided using a pressing mechanism.
Is fixed to the rotating cup 12, it is possible to prevent the generation of dust when the lid 16 is opened and the rattling of the lid 16 during the rotation processing. As the pressing mechanism, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a suspending member 62 for rotatably suspending the lid 16 is provided.
A coil spring 63 may be contracted between the cover 16 and the upper surface of the lid 16, and the lid 16 may be fixed to the rotating cup 12 by the elastic force of the coil spring 63.
As shown in FIG. 8, the lid 16 is fixed to the rotating cup 12 by suction using a magnet 64, or
As shown in FIG. 9, a suction chamber 65 connected to a vacuum device (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the rotating cup 12, and the inside of the suction chamber 65 is in a negative pressure state to fix the lid 16 by suction. ,
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, an inclined (inclination angle: θ) blade having a component force F (sin θ) that is attached to the upper surface of the lid 16 and presses the lid 16 toward the rotating cup with rotation. It can be formed of a piece 66 or the like. Further, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the elastic member of the plurality of elastic plate springs 67 (shown in the drawing) is attached from the lower surface of the suspension member 62 to the upper surface of the lid member 16.
May be fixed to the rotating cup 12.

By arranging the washing nozzle 68 in the connecting cylinder 31 fixed to the lower part of the rotating cup 12 without rotating, the inner surfaces of the rotating cup 12 and the lid 16 can be washed. That is, the cleaning nozzle 68 is held by a bracket 69 attached to the rotating shaft 22, and a cleaning liquid supply pipe 70 connected to the cleaning nozzle 68 is externally shown through a passage (not shown) provided in the fixed collar 24. By connecting the cleaning liquid supply source to the cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid is rotated by raising the spin chuck 10 so as to face the cleaning nozzle 68 from between the spin chuck 10 and the bottom of the rotating cup 12 as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Can be sprayed on the inner surfaces of the rotating cup 12 and the lid 16.

Next, the operation of the coating apparatus of the present invention will be described. First, the robot arm 60 is inserted into the lower surface of the bulging head 18 of the lid 16, the locking pin 61 is engaged with the locking groove 18 a of the bulging head 18, and then moved upward to lift the lid 16. The opening 12a of the rotating cup 12 is opened. In this state, when the substrate G held by the arm 59 of the substrate transport mechanism 58 is transported to the opening 12a of the rotary cup 12, the spin chuck 10 moves upward by the elongating operation of the elevating cylinder 23 to receive the substrate G. And hold by suction. After the transfer of the substrate G, the arm 5 of the substrate transfer mechanism 58
9 retreats from above the rotating cup 12.

After receiving the substrate G, the elevating cylinder 23 contracts and the spin chuck 10 descends, and a resist solution supply nozzle (not shown) opens the opening 1 of the rotating cup 12.
2a, the resist liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate G, for example, is dropped. Then, when the resist solution supply nozzle is retracted from the rotating cup 12, the robot arm 60 is again rotated.
Is activated to cover the rotating body 16 with the lid 16 so that the processing chamber 2
Seal 0. In this state, the drive motor 21 is driven to rotate the spin chuck 10, the rotary cup 12, the lid 16 and the substrate G integrally, and the centrifugal force at this time causes the surface of the substrate G to move from the center to the outer periphery. The resist solution is diffused to form a coating film.

The air that has flowed into the processing chamber 20 from the air supply hole 34 provided in the upper peripheral portion of the rotating cup 12 during the rotation process flows to the outside through the exhaust hole 35 provided in the lower outer peripheral side of the processing chamber 20. Therefore, the mist of the resist liquid scattered from the substrate G is conveyed by the air and exhausted by the exhaust holes 35.
From the drain cup 14 outside. On this occasion,
Since the tapered minute gap 39 that expands downward is formed between the tapered surface 12 e of the rotating cup 12 and the tapered surface 14 h of the drain cup 14, the rotating cup 1
The pressure difference due to the centrifugal force of the air induces the pressure difference due to the peripheral speed difference between the rotating cup 12 and the drain cup 14 at the time of rotation of the rotating cup 2, and this pressure difference causes the air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the outer peripheral portion of the rotating cup 12. And the scattering of the exhaust mist in the drain cup 14 can be prevented. Further, the air above the rotary cup 12 is discharged through the exhaust passage 37 through the exhaust passage 3.
Since the mist flows to the side 6, the mist that flows into the drain cup 14 and soars upward is discharged to the outside through the exhaust port 36.
The mist flowing into the drain cup 14 is separated into gas and liquid when passing between the inner wall 12c and the outer wall 12c of the drain cup 14, and the drain is discharged to the outside through the drain hole 14e. The air is exhausted from the exhaust port 36 to the outside.

During the rotation process, air is supplied to the air supply holes 34.
Flow through the inside of the processing chamber 20 to the outside through the exhaust hole 35, it is possible to prevent the inside of the processing chamber 20 from being in a negative pressure state, and to facilitate opening of the lid 16 after the processing. When the lid 16 is opened, dust can be prevented from entering the processing chamber 20 together with the upper air.

Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to the case where the coating apparatus of the present invention is applied to resist coating of an LCD substrate, the processing liquid is applied to the resist coating of a semiconductor wafer other than the LCD substrate or to the surface of another substrate as appropriate. It is also applicable to those that do.

[0037]

As described above, according to the coating apparatus of the present invention, since it is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

1) According to the coating apparatus of the first aspect,
Since an air flow can be formed inside and outside the rotating cup during the rotation processing, the negative pressure in the processing chamber can be reduced, and the lid can be easily opened after the processing, and the lid can be easily opened. The amount of air flowing into the processing chamber from the outside when the wafer is opened can be reduced to prevent mist and dust from adhering to the processed object. Therefore, the throughput can be improved, and the product yield can be improved.

2) According to the coating apparatus of the second aspect, when the rotating cup is rotated, the air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the outer peripheral portion of the rotating cup is promoted to prevent scattering of the exhaust mist in the drain cup. Further, the product yield can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the exhaust port is provided on the outer peripheral side of the drain cup, the mist from the drain cup to the outside can be exhausted from the exhaust port. ), The product yield can be further improved.

4) According to the coating apparatus of the fourth aspect, the time
The rotating cylinder connected to the rotating cup and the workpiece can be rotated
A fixed cylinder is interposed between the holding means to be placed and the rotating shaft side.
Between the fixed cylinder and the rotating cylinder and the rotating shaft.
Drives during the rotation process because a labyrinth seal is formed
Prevent debris from entering the rotating cup from the system
And in addition to the above 1) to 3), further improve the product yield
You can aim up.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall structure of a coating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a rotation driving portion of the coating apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a relationship between a rotating cup and a lid according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing a fixed state of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing another fixed state of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing another fixed form of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing still another fixed form of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing still another fixed form of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing still another fixed form of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view and a plan view showing still another fixed form of the rotating cup and the lid.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an LCD substrate processing system including the coating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a conventional coating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

G LCD substrate (object to be processed) 10 Spin chuck (holding means) 12 Rotating cup 12e Tapered surface 14 Drain cup 14h Tapered surface 16 Lid 20 Processing chamber 22 Rotating shaft 24 Fixed collar (Fixed cylinder) 26a Rotating inner cylinder 26b Rotation Outer cylinder (rotating cylinder) 33 Labyrinth seal part 34 Air supply hole 35 Exhaust hole 36 Exhaust port 39 Micro gap

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-146615 (JP, A) JP-A-4-78467 (JP, A) JP-A-7-132263 (JP, A) 63633 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/027

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A coating apparatus comprising: a rotating cup having a processing chamber for accommodating an object to be processed; and a drain cup arranged to surround a periphery of the rotating cup. A coating device, wherein an air flow path is provided in a portion and an exhaust hole is provided in a lower peripheral portion. 2. A tapered surface having a diameter reduced toward the upper side is formed on an outer surface of the rotating cup, and a tapered surface is reduced toward the upper side on the inner peripheral surface of the drain cup so as to approach the tapered surface of the rotating cup. 2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a tapered surface having a diameter is formed. 3. An exhaust port is provided on the outer peripheral side of the drain cup.
The coating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. A rotating cylinder connected to a rotating cup,
Between the rotating shaft side of the holding means for rotatably mounting the body
With a fixed cylinder interposed, this fixed cylinder and the rotating cylinder and
A labyrinth seal is formed between the shaft and the rotating shaft.
The coating according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
Cloth equipment.